Objectives & Methods

An Election Observation Mission is an activity of institutional democratic endorsement aiming to study, measure, monitor and evaluate the regularity, transparency and reliability of elections that take place in the three electoral sub-stages (pre-election period, elections day and post-election period) This civic exercise is centered on democratic values that provide part of the essential legitimacy to strengthen democratic model thorough civic participation. The independent, impartial observation of elections is vital to strengthen democratic institutions, building public confidence in electoral processes, helping to prevent fraud, intimidation, and violence. Since the main elements in every electoral system are the parties, the candidates, the votes, and the representation quote, observing elections is an enriching activity allowing observers to better understand the sociopolitical context through scientific analysis using both theoretical and practical knowledge. The appropriate capacitation, thus answers to the question of who can observe elections. The answer is anyone.

Electoral processes are not spontaneous, as the results of complex social relations and political action an electoral process contains multiple elements which must be professionally analyzed, electoral observation contemplates an intellectual work of analysis that results in a much more precise understanding of the political and social reality. In addition, the experience that allows us to elaborate an instrumental definition referring both to the context and to the analytical criterion of the observer.

Research is fundamental for any election observation mission since it includes a comprehensive study of not only the electoral system but also the socio-political context in order to better understand the process and its variables.

Quantification of qualitative processes is one of the most interesting tasks during the pre-election period through which the appraisal and adjustment of mission’s distribution are possible, taking into account public opinion studies.

During elections, the geographical distribution of observers is fundamental to collect as much information as possible concerning the process. This information will be processed and compiled in the final report.

AFDES establishes cooperation between organizations and individuals in each election observation mission looking to expand its activities and form interinstitutional partnership exchanging knowledge and experience.

The American Foundation for Democratic Stability is seeking Volunteers to go abroad on elections observation missions and work on the organization’s current projects aiming to improve democratic functioning in developing countries as well as closely monitor

Educating and training are the backbone of both individual and institutional capacity to achieve professionalism, knowledge, and competence concerning election and other types of political processes. Our staff focusses in developing specialized training and analytical capacity programs oriented to our personnel, civil society representatives, government officials, and ordinary civilians. Objective information and development of analytical thinking are considered essential to achieve the desired impact in public and private spheres regarding monitoring and control of electoral processes which commonly brings important multidisciplinary techniques to better understand and integrate the different variables intervening in all facets of an election.